Outer Banks : American Adventurist

Sadly, as covered in my previous article, Locked Gates Ahead, we continue to lose access to our public lands across America. This is in part because of an ongoing drum beat by well funded special interest groups who seek to control access to public lands. Our ancestors fought for these lands and our rights, and today those rights are in jeopardy. Once public access is denied it seldom returns.

Real Talk

Clearly, our rights come with responsibilities. If we’re truly honest here, one of the biggest reasons we’re seeing closures is because of people. Hordes of people descending on places and trashing them with no regard for the rights of others, or their long term impacts. Some of our best places are being loved to death, and we need to do a better job as human beings to respect the resource and each other.

And while it’s easy to lay all the blame at the feet of agencies like State Parks, BLM, NPS, etc it’s not all about them, there’s millions of us using the land and we need to do our part. That’s a fact, and it’s a part of the bigger picture here that cannot be ignored moving forward.

Meanwhile at Oceano Dunes SVRA aka Pismo Beach

Recently in California, a devastating blow was delivered to the Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area (SVRA) and the off road community in general. The local Air Pollution Control District (APCD), a relative of the infamous California Air Resources Board aka CARB, held a hearing to decide the fate of the SVRA. In case you don’t know, the APCD is a “quasi-judicial body with power to decide on matters of conflict between the Air District and industry,” according to the APCD’s website.

The APCD Hearing Board has five members, including an attorney, an engineer, a medical professional, and two public members. Despite all of the testimony by citizens keen on keeping the dunes open for recreation, these five members voted for an immediate closure of 50 acres of “foredunes” (the beach camping area) at Oceano Dunes SVRA aka Pismo, effective January 1, 2020.

This means the citizens of California just lost 50% of the current area in Pismo for beach camping resulting in half as many camping permits at the SVRA. This also equates to a loss of 50% or more of the yearly revenue for local businesses.

This is a huge blow to ALL Americans because there are actually VERY FEW places left in these United States where anyone can legally drive and camp on the beach anymore.

In fact, this is the the only spot in California where it’s legal anymore, on a coastline that spans more than half of the west coast of the entire United States. Where will we go, where will your kids go, when it’s all gated off?

Unfortunately, the first closures began back in 1982, this article at Hemmings highlights just how much public access has already been lost at Pismo.

As you can see here, it’s already a shadow of what it was intended to be and we’re losing even more of that small green island depicted on the right below.

From the California Off Road Vehicle Association: “California’s Oceano Dunes District provides a $244 Million economic benefit to south San Luis Obispo County, an area that is economically challenged compared to surrounding regions. $221 million of those dollars are from people who stay overnight in the Parks district, which is predominantly within the Oceano Dunes SVRA. That means, that a 50% reduction of camping in the SVRA will cause an immediate $110 Million negative impact to South SLO County. The popularity of the SVRA would surely diminish, ensuring the negative impact will continue to increase.

If we don’t stop the beaches closure now, it will immediately trickle down, putting all 8 of California’s other SVRAs under attack next. It is time that we all join together, and fight this war they are waging on the Off Road community. If you are not a CORVA Member or Business Partner, then be a part of the solution, and please sign up today. We can win this!”

We must evolve, because Closure is not the Answer!

So what is the Answer? Long term, the answer involves PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY (gasp!) and strict adherence to the Tread Lightly! principles.

Part of the answer also involves just being a decent human being when we’re “out there” on the trail, in the dunes, or in the wilderness. Be a good steward of the land, pack out what you pack in, and remember the TREAD principles:

Travel Responsibly
on land by staying on designated roads, trails and area. Go over, not around, obstacles to avoid widening the trails. Cross streams only at designated fords. when possible, avoid wet, muddy trails. On water, stay on designated waterways and launch your watercraft in designated areas.

Respect the Rights of Others
including private property owners, all recreational trail users, campers and others so they can enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed. Leave gates as you found them. Yield right of way to those passing you or going uphill. On water, respect anglers, swimmers, skiers, boaters, divers and those on or near shore.

Educate Yourself
prior to your trip by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies. Plan for your trip, take recreation skills classes and know how to operate your equipment safely.

Avoid Sensitive Areas
on land such as meadows, lake shores, wetlands and streams. Stay on designated routes. This protects wildlife habitats and sensitive soils from damage. Don’t disturb historical, archaeological or pale-ontological sites. On water, avoid operating your watercraft in shallow waters or near shorelines at high speeds.

Do Your Part
by modeling appropriate behavior, leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species and repairing degraded areas.

THE ANSWER ALSO REQUIRES YOU TO GET INVOLVED IN LOCAL LAND USE ISSUES!

Support the organizations that fight the good fight to protect our access to public lands like Friends of Oceano Dunes. Support organizations like CORVA, Tread Lightly, the United Four Wheel Drive Association, the California Four Wheel Drive Association, the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association and others that place a strong emphasis on safe four wheel drive recreation, off-road education, responsible land usage and OHV trail conservation.

Because we’re all in this together.

Do you think you’re not affected by major public land use issues because you live in another state?

Think again, because California policies and trends almost always impact decisions made elsewhere. And make no mistake, the anti-access groups want trails closed everywhere. They prefer yellow gates and control, with all the plebeians corralled in approved areas like major cities and along interstate corridors. The only way to keep our open access is if all of us, and the good groups I mentioned earlier, work together and get vocal.

I’ve been all over the US these last couple years scouting out spots to camp and trail ride, and these spots are becoming few and far between in most states. Many of you need to travel several hours just to boondock, “wild camp” or ‘wheel, and that increased demand is putting a major strain on the areas that are still left in play. With less options for legal places to wheel and camp, we just can’t afford to lose more areas or pretty soon we’ll be relegated to camping in established campgrounds on a 20 foot by 20 foot concrete slab.

Please get involved in local land use issues, because closure is not the answer for public lands. We owe it to future generations to keep the gates open for them.

SPECIAL THANKS TO AMERICAN ADVENTURIST TEAM MEMBERS GREG HENLE, RICHARD SOOHOO, AND CRIS MATESKI FOR PHOTOS AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK!

Leaving Delaware behind, we rolled through Maryland and were in Virginia by lunch. Ahead of us lay an important part of our coastal shortcut and one of the highlights of this trip, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The CBBT as it’s called is an impressive feat of engineering that had me really geeking out, because bridge-tunnel-bridge-tunnel-bridge.

It crosses over open waters where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean providing a direct link between Southeastern Virginia and the “DelMarVa Peninsula” (Delaware plus the Eastern Shore counties in Maryland and Virginia). It also dips down into underwater tunnels in two places making this a pretty unique roller coaster ride of a highway.

This route along US 13 cuts 95 miles from the journey between Virginia Beach and points north of Wilmington, Delaware. From shore to shore, the Bridge-Tunnel measures 17.6 miles and is considered the world’s largest bridge-tunnel complex. Taken together with all the ferry rides on this trip, this coastal route that took us from New Jersey to North Carolina is clearly one of the most epic drives in the world.

Continuing along the Virginia coast, we skirted around Norfolk and headed towards Currituck, North Carolina and the Caratoke Highway aka Route 158. This route is the gateway to the Outer Banks (OBX) and turns into North Carolina Highway 12 near Kitty Hawk.

The northern parts of OBX are pretty heavy with vacation homes and touristas so we kept it moving south along NC 12 and the Hatteras National Seashore. Rumor was we could camp somewhere on these islands and maybe even get this rig into 4WD on a beach somewhere. Time for a little toes in the water tires in the sand!

The treacherous waters off the coast of the Outer Banks are known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Over 600 ships have wrecked here, victims of shallow shoals, storms, and war. In the past 400 years the graveyard has claimed many lives but the local inhabitants have a reputation for cheating death. As early as the 1870s, local villagers served in the US Life-Saving Service, the forefather of the US Coast Guard. Others staffed lighthouses built to guide ships at sea.

Seeing some of these old lighthouses was very high on our list. Each lighthouse here in OBX is a landmark with it’s own unique paint scheme, Bodie Lighthouse (seen here) can be identified by it’s horizontal black and white stripes.

North Carolina Highway 12 is also known as the Outer Banks Scenic Byway so it’s a pretty amazing destination all on it’s own. Often severed by hurricanes over the years, it’s another east coast engineering marvel that provides ready access to miles and miles of amazing beaches on both the windward and the leeward sides of the islands.

Drifting south through the Outer Banks, we were taking our time and just enjoying the trip. If you listen closely, the road teaches you things like how sometimes you just have to forget “the plan” and make that random stop, and to eschew tourist traps. You learn that eating at the local hole in the wall is always better, that the best deals are always had when you shop at the local mom and pop, and that your experience is vastly improved when you actively avoid chain stores or restaurants when possible. The only way to experience and really identify with local cultures is to immerse yourself in it and get off the beaten path. Eat the local delicacy. Engage the local community. So we figured we’d best set course for a less travelled part of the Outer Banks that we’d heard of. With a name like Ocracoke it had to be cool.

Fun Fact: One of the reasons so many people flock to the Outer Banks is the thrill of driving on the beach, a rare privilege on either coast. On the Outer Banks, there are many miles of shoreline to explore, from the uninhabited shoreline on Ocracoke Island to the solely 4WD accessible beaches of Portsmouth Island in the south or Carova, north of Corolla, famous for its wild horses.

Driving offroad on the beach at Cape Hatteras National Seashore requires a Beach Driving Permit, these can be purchased online and sent via mail before your trip. They can also be obtained in person at one of the following locations: Coquina Beach office, Cape Hatteras Light Station, and the Ocracoke Visitor Center. All of the beach driving areas and ramps on Hatteras and Ocracoke Island are open seasonally, meaning that during certain times of year, (specifically in the summer months), some areas may be closed for threatened species that are breeding, or sea turtles that are nesting.

After all the long highway miles we endured to get here from the Midwest, this is where the trip really started to become relaxing.

Beach ramps are all marked by brown, National Park Service managed “ramp markers” that indicate the mile and entrance point of every beach ramp along these islands. Simply engage 4WD and take one of these many sand ramps onto the beach and enjoy. Be ready to air down and bring basic recovery gear!

Beach wheeling box checked off, we headed for camp for the night on Hatteras Island at Frisco Campground. The next morning we were up early for the line up to board the ferry for our ultimate destination of Ocracoke Island. Boarding the ferry was pretty straightforward but be forewarned – arrive early or make reservations in advance to ensure that you get a space on board!

Arriving on Ocracoke, you notice that things feel different here. The pace is slower and more laid back than the hustle and bustle of some of the more northerly OBX areas. We quickly noticed that the “change in latitude” from venturing just this little bit further south really made a difference in attitudes, especially ours. This small island felt very much like the Caribbean, with beautiful beaches and blue/green waters as nice as any we’d seen on numerous forays there. And it has a lighthouse.

Built in 1823, Ocracoke Island Lighthouse still stands and functions today. It may not be the biggest in the Outer Banks, but it has been signaling mariners at sea for almost two centuries. It is North Carolina’s oldest lighthouse in operation, and the second oldest in the United States.

While here, I learned that Ocracoke has a darker history that I was keen on hearing more about. It was a favorite anchorage of Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. From his base here in North Carolina, Blackbeard and his crew of pirates raided English and Spanish commerce at will, ranging far and wide throughout the Carolinas and the West Indies. This remote island was a perfect hideout as it’s sand bars and navigational hazards made it nearly unreachable for those not familiar with these mysterious waters. No doubt some of his loot may still be buried here or on any one of a number of nearby islands. The grounds of what is now the Springer’s Point Nature Preserve were said to be the pirate’s favored hang-out during those days. Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, was recently confirmed found sunk near Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. Geek factor 8 and climbing…

But I digress. We were here to immerse ourselves in the Ocracoke of today and by Teach’s Beard that’s just what we did for the next couple of days.

We swam. We cavorted. We feasted. And we slept the sleep that only long distance travelers, explorers, know. The satiated sleep of a goal attained, of days fully lived. One thing was clear in our minds on Ocracoke though. We were on the edge of the world with no real desire to go back. Ever. You’ve probably experienced that same feeling when you know that your “Adventure Hourglass” is running out and you have to return to the real world of jobs and obligations.

But we still had a couple days before we had to go back to the suck. Up early again for the ferry to the mainland, we were bound for Swan Quarter and points beyond. There are three ways to get to or from Ocracoke Island and the Swan Quarter ferry is the most remote route with only 2 to 4 trips in each direction per day. So you need to be paying attention if you intend to catch a ride to the mainland or risk spending an extra day marooned on the island. Which would really be a bummer.

The Swan Quarter ferry has to cross 30 miles of open water on Pamlico Sound so it’s a bit bigger than the one we came from Hatteras on and the lineup of rigs waiting to board was impressive. The weather had been near perfect during our time in OBX but it was taking a turn for the worse now as winds were picking up and making waters choppy. This ride normally takes two and half hours but our ride was more like three hours as the crew successfully avoided darker weather that would have played havoc with their wheeled cargo. I was tired from all the driving on this trip so while the girls enjoyed the air conditioned passenger decks I chose to get in some stealth camping on deck – nap time!

Landing at Swan Quarter, the girls were now tired so they soon nodded off as I made my way inland, following the country highways and byways through eastern North Carolina. My goal was to head for Uwharrie National Forest in the middle of the state and camp at the site of our Appalachian Rendezvous events. Arriving after dark, I quickly made camp before waking the girls up so they could just climb in and go to bed.

The benefits of the Four Wheel Camper were many on this long trip but the primary one is always convenience, and AT Overland did a great job with this custom conversion. I stop the truck on a level spot and get out and open the camper, pop the roof up and done. Easy peasy. It was really nice on this trip to have soft beds, full bathroom (showers!) and kitchen amenities. And no matter what type of wind and rain is going on outside, it’s watertight and solid as a rock. Speaking of rain, I’ve only been to Uwharrie many times and only once not seen rain, this night it poured on us again but the morning brought blue skies and that hot, sticky humidity that the Carolinas are famous for.

Up early again, we rolled over to the Eldorado Outpost for some of their famous pork tenderloin biscuits and Cheerwine. We made some time here to visit with local friends who had stopped by to see us and I was reminded once again why this area is so remarkable – it’s the people. I’ve travelled the world and never met nicer, more honest or more hardworking people than you’ll find right here in North Carolina. Few places feel like home to a traveler but I’m at home every time I visit this Forest.

Bidding farewell to the Tar Heel State, I made tracks for the Commonwealth by slicing through the mountainous western reaches of the Old Dominion. Arriving at the Kentucky line I feared we might face more bad weather ahead but it proved to be short lived as skies above gave way to blue with cotton candy clouds.

My goal this leg was Cave Run Lake, Kentucky. Eschewing the nearby over-priced, “ReserveAmerica” debacle that most people seem willing to accept as “camping” nowadays, we took the path less travelled and headed out into the forest in search of a good old fashioned, and free, dispersed camping spot.

We made camp for the last time on this trip on a ridge high above the lake. No one here but us. The Daniel Boone National Forest made for a peaceful last night on the road as we settled in here, surrounded by sights and sounds of the forest, unmolested by insects or any bipedal pestilence in our hideout high above the lake.

Morning came and it was back on the road, carving our way through Kentucky and Indiana before arriving home on the north shore of Lake Michigan in Illinois. This trip was a blessing for all of us as the hard work of the “build phase” of this vehicle project was rewarded over ten long days on the road together exploring America.

And now we can’t wait to get out and go again!

NOTE: Full build details on the vehicle and the camper are well documented HERE and HERE.

Tag: Outer Banks

Public Land Use: Closure Isn’t The Answer